Hi, I'm new here, just wanted to add my musings and commiserations on the 76% bridge frame debacle.
I know you guys like everyone to intro themselves formally, but I really won't be a major contributor to this board so I hope you don't mind if I just drop a bare sketch of an intro here. It's kind of intertwined with the story of my 76 anyway.
I'm a middle aged female who didn't get into guns until 2020 (yaas, I'm one of those embarrassing "pandemic gun buyers"). Just when I started to dip my toe into the gun community, I began to hear whispers of a mythical boom stick known as "the 80%" and that an evil force known as aFt was on a crusade to exterminate them in the wild. As new as I was to guns, I had immediate FOMO and knew I must possess one of these magical creatures before they went extinct permanently.
In typical girl fashion, I bought a pink 80% AR-15 lower having absolutely no idea what I was doing. I didn't even own a "real" AR-15. But my friends did, and I had shot one... or two.
Now I may have been new to guns, but I've made a living working with my hands over my lifetime and am no stranger to power tools and fabrication out of various raw materials, so I may have had more life experience going into the project than your average Jane.
I went slow, did my research, and I'm proud to report that I was absolutely thrilled with the end result. No irreversible mistakes were made, the gun ran flawlessly, my friends were in awe, and I was hooked!
Fun side note: the 80% fever spread amongst my friend group specifically because of my first build and there are now DOZENS of guns out there, that never would have been birthed, had ATF not attempted to outlaw 80%'s. I previously had no interest in even owning, let alone assembling, LET ALONE milling my own AR prior to ATF's attempt to outlaw. I really and truly only wanted one because they said I couldn't have one. It never would have been on my radar otherwise. Tsk, Tsk. When will they learn? Persecution only makes patriots angry, and motivated.
So anyways, just to finish my resumé as it relates to this 76, I later built a GST-9 80% Arms, and a Geisler Defense 80%, both projects were a total success. Learning curve, sure, I had never even taken my scary real Glock apart before (was afraid I'd break it) but slow and steady wins the race, and both guns run beautifully. I found the undertaking educational and highly rewarding.
So, fast forward a couple years later and I find myself in possession of a Glock 25 complete slide & 2 dedicated mags. For those of you who don't know, a G25 is basically a Glock 19 chambered in .380. Not sold in the US, it's a South American market thing.
Excited to try it, I attempt to pair it with either one of my 80%'s. Problem. They both have G17 grip modules and the mags are too short. And the G25 is too unusual for a lot of aftermarket support in the magazine department. So my First World Problem just became a happy excuse to buy another 80%.
I go looking and am saddened to discover that the 80% Arms GST-9 is currently in political exile (thereby validating my original FOMO!), so I go a few clicks deeper into the interwebs and find this 76% Tasmanian Devil. Like so many unsuspecting victims of what I can only assume is a master troll move from the very bowels of the ATF, I thought "only 4% harder to build? No problem!"
I'm obsessive. I have OCD. And yes, I am a lifelong perfectionist. I have mellowed my perfectionist expectations in my old age in an attempt to get more joy out of life, but I just couldn't let this 76 beat me. I am the world's greatest victim of sunk cost fallacy and I just couldn't give up. I stubbornly toiled away for mind numbing hours before I finally decided I must be missing something and sought out advice online. How did I find you guys? Believe it or not, ChatGPT led me here. My query: "Why are 76% frames a thing?" Even the chatbot seemed exasperated with the rabbit hole and just sent me here.
Now, for the pay off for those of you who have been kind enough to read my journey thus far.
The single most important tip I can share, that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere else in these threads: when working on removing the latticework from the trigger housing pocket you can protect your magwell wall from being punctured by inserting a ...
wait for it ...
magazine.
I had an old crap mag I didn't care about, I glued a thin strip of leather to one side of it to make it super tight fitting and I shoved it in there tight as it would go. I call it a spud, though I'll admit I can't remember where I got that understanding of what a spud is and I might be using the term wrong. But anyway, this shores up the stability of that onionskin magwell wall nicely, allowing you to push tools against it and scrape as forcefully as is really required to get the job done.
Next tip, podiatry surgical tools are your friend. I'm not a podiatrist, but I work with leather and own a large assortment of similar such tools. This kit is the best I can recommend for this job specifically:
I used all of the tools in this exact kit on my 76, except for the widest one. They are high quality, hold their factory original edge for a long time, and then once dulled, hone up very nicely.
Third tip: I know soldering irons have been mentioned, jerry-rigged heated knife blades have also been mentioned, what I can contribute more specifically is I ground my existing soldering iron tip into a one-sided chisel point.
I own all manner of dremel tools and accessories - except for a brief moment of weakness where I tried one setup out of delirious desperation - I avoided using them. I knew there would be too much chatter and the chance of bit jump and damage to the frame just too great.
If I were to write a how to guide:
1) spud your magwell
2) cut away the bulk of your lattice work with heavy duty nail clippers like these:
Amazon.com: Ingrown Nail Clippers for Men with Ingrown Toenails – Blizzard Podiatrist Toenail Clipper Set German Forged (13 - Arrow Point - Smooth) : Beauty & Personal Care
a.co
3) drill your roll pin holes BEFORE you attempt to clear the front locking block grooves, this makes cleanup of that area relatively easy, a couple flush chops with the 3/8" chisel from the podiatry kit did the job
4) aluminum oxide sanding paper (the type plumbers use to clean up copper pipes for soldering) glued to a flexible piece of 1/2" aluminum bar stock I had laying around made a nice hand sander for the arc of the trigger housing area.
5) soldering iron chisel tip to flatten ledges and for general clean up of shreddy sanded areas. I also held the frame above my head and let a barbecue lighter flame tighten up some areas. Immediately touch the area with your fingertips (yes, it's hot, I'm used to it, I burn a lot of edge leather) after just the briefest exposure to the flame. This not only helps you monitor how soft you are making the material, it also allows you to shape it. The lighter held above head method has the added benefit of illuminating the dark pocket you are working on. Flames stand upright.
So, the $64,000 question.
Does the gun work? Yes.
Was it worth it? No.
How long did it take? Twenty. Actual. Hours.
(I'm including research, testing, and cleanup... but still, yikes)
And yes there are blemishes on the outside of the (purple!) frame mainly from trying to clamp the front locking block down with padded jaw pliers to get it in the right position to line up the holes, and yes I had to sand/grind the roll pins, both of which itch my OCD. But do I think the frame is going to fail because of all the rough handling to get it done? No, not really, it seems fine. And I've done my share of work with polymers so I'd like to think I have a feel for it. But I will admit a tiny voice inside my head whispered that it's probably a good thing this is meant to be only a 380 host.
Final thought: these frames must not be called 76's because of how complete they are, but it must be because it's a nod to the bare knuckle grit and blood, sweat and tears-level of determination necessary to complete one... in the same vein of the heroic American Revolutionary War zeitgeist, "The Spirit of '76".
Thank you to all those who listed advice in this thread, and thank you for reading my screed.
#DisbandTheATF
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I love that gun! What I loved most about it when I first got it and was still learning to shoot is that the 10mm rounds leave a large enough hole in a plain paper target that I could actually see where I was hitting at 25 yds (huge upgrade over my previous Henry 22 ). That HiPoint was worth every penny. It's been awesome.
